The Indian men's hockey team is in an excellent frame of mind going into Rio Olympics with a silver medal performance at the Hockey Champions Trophy where they lost of Australia via penalties in the final. Things have been massively progressive for the men in blue. From change of coach to change of captaincy, from players getting the best exposure in the Hockey India League to the fast training methodology, everything is pointing in the right direction for Indian team. New captain and star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh has stressed on the leadership roles for various players on the field and the excellent camaraderie they share among them. Although, the Australians, the Dutch, the Germans remain stronger than India but the sheer confidence of Indian team will prompt them to break the Olympic medal drought that has carried on for 36 long years.

India are pooled in Group B that have the likes of Netherlands and Germany, along with Argentina, Ireland and Canada.

In her own words, the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Rio Olympics, 52 years on from the last time the country had gymnastic representation at the Summer Games, is targeting a place in the final round. Only two of her adversaries have attempted the Produnova - Yamilet Pena of the Dominican Republic and Egyptian Fadwa Mahmoud - but neither has topped Dipa's highest score in the world, 15.300. It would take something exceptional for Dipa to win an Olympic medal, but then she is a phenomenon in itself.

He's said it very clearly, its either gold or nothing for Yogeshwar Dutt at Rio Olympics. Yogeshwar, who won the 60kg freestyle bronze in London 2012 is hungry to go out with a bang as he has decided to quit amateur wrestling after the Rio Games. Yogeshwar's wrestling progress post London has only been on an upward curve. An increased weight category of 65kg and gold medals in 2014 Glasgow CWG and 2014 Incheon Asiad. His training has been very advanced, using the hypoxic chamber, something that Cristiano Ronaldo also uses in his training methodology. A silver is a realistic goal.

An Olympic qualification for her sister Geeta Phogat meant that Vinesh would carry forward the wrestling legacy in the family. And when she won a gold in the 48kg women's category at the 2014 CWG in Glasgow, Vinesh realised her potential that she can go all the way. She followed that up with a bronze at 2014 Incheon Asiad, a silver in 2015 Doha Asian Championship and a bronze in 2016 Asian Championships in Bangkok. She qualified for Rio after winning gold in the qualifying tournament in Turkey. earlier this year.

Just the fact that only three Indians feature in the boxing event at the Rio Olympics show the plight of boxing in India that is still not run under a well defined federation. The 2008 and 2012 Olympics had many more boxers qualifying for the mega event. However, Shiva Thapa, amid the fracas has held his own and is now a mature enough to carry the boxing burdens of the nation post the Vijender Singh era. Shiva became the youngest boxer to qualify for Olympics back in 2012 but now is India's best bet at a medal in boxing.